Hughes seeks respect for successful throttling of jaded Gunners

Mark Hughes made his intentions plain from the start. Withdrawing David Bentley, potentially Blackburn's most influential creative player, into deep midfield, he invited the man who used to be David Dunn to fill what the denizens of Highbury once knew as the Bergkamp role - the very one for which Bentley was groomed during his years with Arsenal's academy and reserve sides. Dunn, who once had his own pretensions to such eminence, was there not to weave spells but to harry and chivvy.

Perhaps Cesc Fábregas, one of a number of Arsène Wenger's prodigies who stood in the way of Bentley's progress in north London, was motivated by sympathy for his former colleague when he approached Hughes after the final whistle.

"Didn't you play for Barcelona?" the 19-year-old Spaniard, himself plucked from Camp Nou's nursery, asked the 43-year-old Welshman, who had just taken charge of his 100th match with Blackburn.

"I told him, yes, I did, a long time ago," Hughes said. "He shook his head. I asked him if there was something wrong. He said something like, 'That's not Barcelona football.' I told him I don't have Barcelona's players. I won't tell you what else I said. But he possibly needs to show a bit more respect to people who've won a few more FA Cups than he has."

Four-one, in that respect. And the precise wording of Hughes's immediate response to Fábregas's goading was clear from the television footage. An hour later, while Hughes was giving his press conference, the word came that Fábregas was waiting to talk to him. "He can wait," Hughes said. But when his business was done he went off to receive an apparently unreserved apology, letting it be known that the matter was at an end. Fábregas, perhaps prompted by older heads, added his own explanation. "I'm young," he said, "and I still have a lot to learn."

It was a messy end to a match in which the only satisfaction came from Blackburn's success in avoiding a repeat of their recent league defeats at Arsenal's hands, 6-2 before Christmas and 2-0 last month. For Wenger, the draw simply added another trip north to an already crowded diary. "It's not touristically a fantastic place," he added, somewhat gratuitously. "It's not our dream to go up there."

His solution, since we asked, would be to settle FA Cup ties at the first time of asking, by means of extra-time and penalties. Did he think other managers would agree with him? "I don't know. Usually not."

Some might, at least from the upper echelon of the Premiership. Others would point to the beneficial effect of replays on the morale and financial health of smaller clubs. "There's no magical solution," Wenger continued, "but if you want to cut down the fixtures you have to sacrifice something. And that something might be a part of the tradition of the English game."

With tomorrow's trip to Eindhoven and next Sunday's Carling Cup final in prospect, he had made nine changes from the reserve-packed team that emerged victorious from last Wednesday's enthralling fourth-round replay at Bolton. Fábregas, Thierry Henry, Fredrik Ljungberg and William Gallas were among those returning to the starting line-up, the last of them welcomed back after a three-month absence through injury. But, in the way of such things, they managed to look more jaded than those they replaced.

"Sometimes the players who have not played are more tired, or less sharp," Wenger remarked. Henry, shrugging his way through the game, looked a great deal less potent than either Jérémie Aliadière or Emmanuel Adebayor, the latter coming on with Tomas Rosicky after 69 minutes to try to dispel the prevailing lethargy.

One of those they replaced was Theo Walcott, whose current run of appearances in the starting XI seems designed simply to give him experience. Out of position on the right flank, the 17-year-old was thoroughly mastered by the excellent Stephen Warnock and only when he came inside did he provide glimpses of his touch and originality.

Warnock was fortunate that Martin Atkinson did not award a penalty for his clear foul on Aliadière after 81 minutes, while Hughes, lacking half a dozen first-choice players, could thank Brad Friedel for a wonderful double save seven minutes later that preserved the draw. In terms of memorable incidents, that was about it.